In a 'Haze' of modern issues

In a small, barely ventilated, room of E3 last year Ubisoft showed off the very promising game Haze. A first-person shooter that obviously, even at that time, had something to say about the politics of war -- without politics getting in the way of gunplay. Well, Haze scriptwriter Rob Yescombe says that while Halo is great, it's not the most mature subject matter and he wants Haze to up the ante in meaning. Yescombe tells Edge magazine he believes developer Free Radical is using Haze to do that, he says, "It's about what's happening in the world today -- it's ludicrous, and how can you make something that doesn't reflect that? Well, you could bury your head in the sand and make Halo 3, but the fact of the matter is there are more important things at stake."

Yescombe does say that their job is still to "entertain." Haze, although being an incredibly short demonstration, did stand out from the crowd at last year's E3. At the time it felt like a mix of FarCry, Ghost Recon (at the time they said it would allow for four-man simultaneous campaign) and a dose of Deus Ex morality. This is definitely one title we're looking forward to seeing more of, especially if the story enhances what was already some sweet looking gameplay.